MILLIONAIRES and celebrities are flocking to Worcest-ershire as a housing resurgence hits the county.

Celebrities including singer Toyah Wilcox and dress designer Stella McCartney may have been setting a trend when they chose to buy homes here.

While house prices in the West Midlands continue to fall, hundreds of eager buyers are looking for properties in Worcestershire with price tags of £1m or more.

"A lot of people are looking for houses in the million pounds bracket. It's quite an interesting state of affairs that has been developing over the last year or so," said estate agent Andrew Grant.

"We currently have 358 people seeking properties over £1m. They mostly want them in the country, but some will settle for a nice house in the town.

"It proves the point that there's a market out there."

Mr Grant said some were local buyers, while others came from Birmingham, London and the South East.

"You should never under-estimate what is going on locally. Many of the buyers are local people who are successful in business," he said.

"Celebrities do look for houses here from time to time, but I haven't counted them."

The house market had been quiet at the beginning of the year, but had been surprisingly busy during July and August, at a time when it was usually quieter because people were away on holiday, said Mr Grant.

"The middle market, for properties between £350,000 to £550,000 isn't doing too badly either," he said.

Andrew Grant sales and marketing director David Stuart-Smith, a spokesman for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said the demand for country houses was good news for Worcester.

"The future outlook for the Worcester housing market is promising, particularly when compared with the previous quarter," he said.

The value of agreed sales had been growing over the past three months and at the end of July it was 12 per cent higher than the same time last year.

However, he warned that the increase in supply and choice of available property made it all the more important to calculate prices carefully, in order to encourage buyers.